Notes: This is the same combination of left- and right-side tires Goodyear brought to Martinsville twice in 2001 . . . both the NASCAR Winston Cup and Truck Series will compete on the same tires this weekend . . . Martinsville is the only track where Winston Cup teams will use this specific tire combination, though this right-side tire (D-5704) will be used on all four tire positions at both Sears Point and Watkins Glen . . . truck series teams will use this combination later in the season at South Boston, however . . . because Martinsville is an oval of less than one mile in length, teams will not run inner liners this weekend.

Goodyear Quote -- Mark Keto, Lead Engineer, Stock Car Tire Development: "Martinsville has very little tire give-up over the course of a fuel run, so there will be teams utilizing two-tire pit stops to gain track position. This consistency is due in large part to the concrete corners at the track."

RACE BONUS INFO

The NASCAR Winston Cup Leader Bonus is $30,000 at Martinsville for leading the points and winning the race (Sterling Marlin last won the award, $20,000 at Darlington on March 17, 2002). The $360,000 annual award is paid at $10,000 per race to the point leader at the end of each event if he is also the winner. The award increases by $10,000 each week the it goes unclaimed. If the point leader is not the race winner at the end of the year, the balance of the award is distributed among the top-10 finisher in the point standings(4-8-2002)

IN-CAR AUDIO SITES

PREVIEW, FACT SHEETS and MISC News

Weather at Martinsville: No one is forecasting a total washout, but the NASCAR races in Martinsville, Va., and Nashville this weekend face threats of occasional showers and thunderstorms, three weather services say. The Weather Channel, AccuWeather and the National Weather Service have a chance of showers in the forecast for Saturday's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Advance Auto Parts 250 and Sunday's NASCAR Winston Cup Virginia 500 in Martinsville. All three have similar forecasts for Saturday's NASCAR Busch Series Pepsi 300 at Nasvhille.(Winston Cup Scene Newsletter)(4-12-2002)

Martinsville Facts: There have been nine different Bud Pole winners in the last 10 races at Martinsville. Tony Stewart posted his career-first Bud Pole for the 1999 Virginia 500 then also won the Bud Pole for the 2000 Virginia 500 to become the only repeat Bud Pole winner in the 10-race period. There have been nine different race winners in the last nine races at Martinsville. Rusty Wallace was the last driver to win both Martinsville races in the same year, doing so in 1994.. Wallace won five of the seven races at Martinsville from 1993 through the spring of 1996 and has five top-10 finishes in 11 races at Martinsville since his last win in 1996. Forty-eight of 93 NASCAR Winston Cup 500-lap races at Martinsville have been won from the first four starting positions. However, five of the last 11 have been won from a starting position of 10th or worse, including two from the 21st starting position.(NASCAR PR)(4-10-2002)

Chevy's get measured different starting at Texas UPDATE: Officials for NASCAR announced modifications in the inspection and measuring process, specifically for the Chevrolet Monte Carlo, beginning with the NASCAR Winston Cup event weekend at Texas Motor Speedway on April 5th. The current NASCAR Winston Cup Series inspection process utilizes reference lines for inspection located on the inspection-room floor to help determine the overall length of the front of the car for each manufacturer. The Chevrolet's reference line has been moved to the same point as the Ford Taurus and Dodge Intrepid. It will now be measured at 100 ¼ inches in length. (Prior to this modification, the Chevrolet was measured at 99 inches). The Pontiac Grand Prix is measured at 100 ½ inches.(NASCAR PR)(3-22-2002)UPDATE: Chevy team owners call NASCAR's newest rules break "just a bone they're throwing us," according to car owner Andy Petree. NASCAR's John Darby hinted he planned to follow up this rule with one cutting back something on the Dodges. General Motors' Alba Colon said GM would welcome that move: "I would be very glad to hear that. We asked (NASCAR) to do something with the Dodges and the Fords, but they replied 'What can we do for the Chevrolet? We don't want to take anything away from them. What can we do for you?'" The new Chevy rule, Darby says, will give that make more front downforce. However, Chevy crew chiefs dismiss that, saying it may add only 10 pounds of downforce; NASCAR wind tunnel tests last week showed the Dodge with more than 130 pounds more front downforce than the Monte Carlo, out of nearly 1400 pounds of total downforce.(Winston Salem Journal)(3-23-2002)

Provisonals Rules changed a bit: NASCAR Officials announced this week that teams in the Cup and BGN will not be charged for using a provisional starting position if the entry field for an event is equal to or less than the number of starting positions provided by the official entry blank.[such as 43 at a Cup race]. A team is granted a maximum season allotment of eight provisionals [charged provisional, if not in the top 25 in Owners Points] and under this amendment, provisionals assigned to fill starting positions 37-43 will not count against this allotment. Prior to this amendment, teams were charged for a provisional regardless of the number of entries at an event.(NASCAR.com). For more info on provisionals, see my Provisionals Status page.(3-21-2002)

New Pit Road Rules: NASCAR will change its policies for speeding violations on pit road following confusion over an infraction for which eventual race-winner Sterling Marlin was never penalized a week ago at Las Vegas. NASCAR president Mike Helton announced the changes Sunday morning at the drivers’ meeting prior to the MBNA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The new rules go into effect next weekend at Darlington Raceway. The key change is that, under green-flag conditions, the penalty for speeding on the way onto pit road will now be the same as the penalty for speeding off the pit lane. The new penalty will be what NASCAR is calling a “pass through,” meaning the offending car will have to come off the track and travel the length of pit road at its speed limit without stopping. Under the old rule, a car speeding on the way onto pit road during a green-flag stop was held for 15 seconds in its pit stall. A car speeding off pit road was brought back to its pit box for a stop-and-go penalty. During last week’s UAW 400 at Las Vegas, NASCAR officials said Marlin was speeding as he came to his pit stall after being spun out in Turn 4. NASCAR’s race control officials called for the 15-second penalty, but that message was not heard by the official working in Marlin’s pit stall. Marlin left without serving a penalty and NASCAR decided not to enforce any further sanction, saying that bringing Marlin back to pit road would be too severe of a penalty. Since the usual penalty for speeding on the exit to pit lane was to bring a car back in for a stop-and-go, that raised the question of why the sanction for speeding on the way out should be more severe for speeding on the way in. The rule change announced Sunday addresses that issue. Helton admitted Sunday that not giving Marlin a penalty last week might not have been the right decision. Helton said the change was made to avoid the kind of confusion and miscommunication that happened at Las Vegas. Under the rule that goes into effect next week, a driver speeding on the way in and on the way out on the same pit stop will be brought back in for a stop-and-go penalty. A driver who exceeds the pit road speed limit as he serves the “pass through” penalty for speeding will also get a stop-and-go. The penalty for speeding in or out of a pit stop made under yellow-flag conditions will not change - the offending car will be sent to the end of the longest line of traffic for the restart.()(3-10-2002)UPDATE: plus a nice breakdown at RacingOne:
The New Pit Road Rules

Entering and Exiting Pit Road
Current Penalty: 15 seconds after stop; brought back for stop and go
New Penalty: Stop and Go

Speeding on Pass Through
New Penalty: Stop and GoMultiple Violations: NASCAR’s Discretion.(RacingOne)(3-11-2002)

One Engine Rule for 2002 UPDATE 3: starting in the 2002 season, Cup teams must use the same engine to qualify and race, NASCAR announced Sunday at Martinsville Speedway. In the event the engine used to qualify the car does not start the race, then at the desretion of the Winston Cup Series director, the starting position will be relinquished and the car will drop to the rear of the field prior to the start of the race. According to NASCAR, certain events during the 2002 season may require ammendments to this rule, such as the Gatorade Twin 125-mile qualifying races and the Coca-Cola 600, due its length.(NASCAR.com)(10-14-2001)UPDATE: NASCAR has decided to allow teams to change engines following qualifying Feb. 9 for the Daytona 500. Beginning this season, teams are required to use the same engine for qualifying and the race. The move for Daytona was made because of the 125-mile qualifying races held prior to the race.(That's Racin')(1-8-2002)UPDATE 2: NASCAR's one-engine rule makes its debut this weekend [at Rockingham]. Teams must use the same engine to qualify, practice and race. If a team must replace an engine before the race, its driver is dropped to the back of the field at the start.(Sporting News)(2-19-2002)UPDATE 3: The single-engine rule requires Cup teams to use the same engine in practice, qualifying and the race itself on a given weekend. Any team suffering an engine failure AFTER qualifying will be forced to go to the back of the field for the start of the race.()(2-22-2002)BEEN ASKED: can a team change an engine prior to qualifying or during the first practice on Friday? Have seen conflicting columns on what the rule really says - some say the rule takes effect AFTER qualifying and some say one engine for ALL practices, qualifying and the race. So not sure what happens if a team loses an engine in the early practice, sure we will find out soon enough.(2-22-2002)AND about changing parts...NASCAR’s rule doesn’t prohibit teams from replacing parts on the engine, such as valve springs, intake manifolds, lifters, rocker arms, cam shafts, etc. Heads nor the engine block CANNOT be changed.(2-24-2002)More One Engine News UPDATE 4: NASCAR yesterday tightened its one-engine rule, requiring teams to get NASCAR approval for any engine change. Some teams have been practicing with one engine, then changing for qualifying.(Winston Salem Journal). Previously, teams could use a different engine for the first practice session but couldn't change engines once the car was qualified unless gaining approval from NASCAR.(News and Record)(3-17-2002)UPDATE 5: On Saturday, NASCAR said it was amending his single engine rule to include possible reduction in owner and driver points to teams that change engines.(Augusta Chronicle)(3-18-2002)

Caution 14 - Lap 498: #55-Hamilton and #77-Blaney got together and #45-Petty was also involved.
Caution 13 - Lap 485: #44-Jones gets turned around and #10-Benson got into Buckshot, just after the green flag flew.
Caution 12 - Lap 475: #32-Craven and #41-Spencer got together when Craven tried to pass Spencer on the bottom, Kenseth scaped Spencer but used the grass to avoid the #41.
Caution 11 - Lap 442: #14-Compton, #4-Skinner and #10-Benson got together, with Benson looping around, but restarted and drove on. #55-Hamilton and #20-Stewart came in to pit after being 1-2, but none of the other leaders followed them into the pits.
Caution 10 - Lap 405: #41-Spencer spun, as he spun #32-Craven spun into Spencer, both ended up in the turn 4 wall, both drove away. #2-Wallace and #4-Skinner got together on pit road, with Wallace hitting Skinner as they both left at the same time, Skinner is pitting right infront of Wallace.
Caution 9 - Lap 366: #02-Sadler got spun out when #19-Mayfield hit him in the rear.
Caution 8 - Lap 274: #36-Schrader's car died on the track and is stopped in turn #4.
Caution 7 - Lap 252: #24-Gordon is smoking, may be a steering pump leak, Gordon reports oil pressure is ok.
Caution 6 - Lap 207: #43-Andretti lost an engine, #31-Gordon and #26-Kimmel spun in the oil between turn 3 and 4. Also #41-Spencer and #24-Gordon had contact and quite a bit damage on the #24 cutting the tire down, Spencer and Gordon got together while trying to avoid the cars spinning in front of them.
Caution 5 - Lap 170: #11-Bodine had a tire go down and stopped on the track.
Caution 4 - Lap 101: #41-Spencer spun out and tapped the wall, no contact with any other car.
Caution 3 - Lap 73: #29-Kenny Wallace spun out in turn one after #4-Skinner got into Wallace when he came down from the upper groove and, Wallace drifted down the track, but no other cars were involved. #41-Spencer was held in the pits for 15 seconds after a pit road member came onto pitroad too earlier, #26-Kimmel and #1-Park held for speeding. #55-Hamitlon took 2 tires ob his pit stop.
Caution 2 - Lap 50: #99-Burton and #21-Salder got together after Burton hit Sadler in the rear. #02-Sadler also spun just behind the accident.
Caution 1 - Lap 26: for debris on the track, from #36-Schrader.

NOTES: #45-Petty got into #1-Park who got into #4-Skinner who spun around on lap 425, but no yellow and all were able to drive on, but Park had to come in and get new tires as the left front was cut down. Jerry Nadeau is standing by to sub for #24-Jeff Gordon as of lap 390. #12-Newman is in the garage area on lap 265, oil is in the water and is dropping fluid. #12-Newman's car is smoking and the oil temp is climbing on lap 240. #29-Wallace possibly broke a sway bar which has caused handling problems but him 10 laps behind the leaders. On lap 173 stops, #88-Jarrett was held after pitting outside his pit stall. On lap 145 #21-Salder spun after #97-Busch tapped him, but no yellow thrown. #25-Nadeau drifted up towards the wall after #20-Stewart took the lead but recovered back into 8th on lap 120. The #2-Wallace and #20-Stewart got together but both went on, no yellow. #48-Johnson had some ignition problems around lap 35 and slowed down, but is back up to speed, but had to switch to the 2nd ignition and has to be careful as there is no rev-limiter on the backup/2nd ignition. #36-Ken Schrader had a flat tire after making contact with #45-Petty and lost a few laps trying to get into the pits and damaged the left rear of the car, including a brake fire. #17-Kenseth pushed his grill in when he made contact with #77-Blaney. #71-Hillenburg goes to pits on lap 10 (clutch problem) came out a few times but is now listed as out.
For results see or NASCAR.com.(4-14-2002)

Childress Statement: Statement from Richard Childress regarding NASCAR's "Parking" of Kevin Harvick: "NASCAR had to do something in response to Kevin's actions during the Truck race yesterday, but I think their response was completely wrong. I have not seen the clip of Kevin's actions during the Truck race so I can't comment on what he did. He has had problems in the Busch and Truck Series and had been on probation for his actions, but the decision to 'park' him during the Winston Cup race is wrong. NASCAR should keep the actions and punishments separate to each series. This should be Kevin's punishment only, but what NASCAR is doing is punishing the tens of thousands of race fans who probably didn't know until they got to the track this morning that Kevin won't be allowed to race today. NASCAR is also punishing the entire No. 29 team and all of Richard Childress Racing for one person's actions. NASCAR is also punishing GM Goodwrench Service, who has been nothing but loyal to RCR and the sport for many years. This is only my opinion. I will sit down with Kevin Monday morning to discuss what happened and how we will proceed from here."(RCR PR)(4-14-2002)

Harvick Parked for Martinsville, Kenny Wallace in the #29 for the race: Winston Cup driver #29-Kevin Harvick has been "parked" by NASCAR officials and will not be allowed to drive in Sunday's Virginia 500 at Martinsville Speedway, NASCAR officials confirmed Sunday morning. A formal announcement of the action is expected at the track Sunday morning. Kenny Wallace will drive Harvick's #29 GM Goodwrench Chevy Sunday. He would have to start at the rear of the field since he did not qualify the car. Harvick's "parking" - defined in the NASCAR rulebook as an emergency action that is "final, non-appealable and non-reviewable" - comes in response to NASCAR officials' demand he park his truck after spinning Coy Gibbs in Saturday's CTS race at Martinsville. Harvick and Gibbs tangled on the track several times over the course of several laps. Gibbs spun Harvick one time exiting Turn 4. Following a caution on Lap 188, Harvick rammed Gibbs' rear bumper entering Turn 1 and finally spun him exiting Turn 2. NASCAR had enough, black-flagged Harvick and parked him for the day. Harvick parked his #6 Chevy in front of the Truck series hauler near pit road. He was told to report to the NASCAR hauler and met with series officials for nearly 90 minutes following the race. Harvick was already under probation from his post-race incident with Greg Biffle at the BGN race at Bristol last month. Harvick was fined $15,000 and placed on probation until Aug. 28. After Sunday's race, Harvick may receive a more traditional suspension, which could be appealed under NASCAR rules, sources said.(), also see NASCAR.com: The Buzz: Harvick suspension imminent? and Harvick ordered to meet with NASCAR after incident. AND from the Kenny Wallace site: An emergency call sends Kenny Wallace to Martinsville. NASCAR and Richard Childress called DEI to release Wallace for the Martinsville race. Wallace drove to Martinsville and is staying with bother Rusty for the night.ANDRacingOne.com reports that a press conference with #29 car owner Richard Childress was scheduled for 9:00am/et at Martinsville Speedway, while Harvick was to address the media at 10:00am/et.AND NASCAR.com announces:Harvick not allowed to drive in Virginia 500: NASCAR's statement: "NASCAR officials have announced they have "parked" NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick until the conclusion of the Virginia 500 NASCAR Winston Cup event at Martinsville Speedway. Harvick, on probation following an incident at Bristol Motor Speedway March 23 for actions during a NASCAR Busch Series event, was parked during Saturday's Advance Auto Parts 250 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event. That time has been extended, preventing him, but not the No. 29 RCR Winston Cup team, from participating through the completion of the event at Martinsville."(4-14-2002)

Starting Lineup at Martinsville: at .(4-14-2002)

Some Notes: #88-Dale Jarrett spun and tagged the wall in the final practice session, suffering only minor damage. #90-Rick Mast will drop to the back of the field at the start of today's Virginia 500 for changing his engine yesterday.(Richmond Times Dispatch)(4-14-2002)

Happy Hour Practice at Martinsville is over. #20-Tony Stewart was the fastest at 93.061mph, 2nd fastest was #55-Bobby Hamilton at 92.783 and #40-Sterling Marlin at 92.642. Slowest were #90-Rick Mast at 91.135 and #14-Darrell Waltrip (subbing for Stacy Compton) at 90.335. #71-Andy Hillenburg did not practice. See for Saturday's 'Happy Hour' speeds. Happy Hour will be televised per tape delay at 7:00pm/et tonight on FX with Darrell Waltrip in the #14 with a microphone.(4-13-2002)

Saturday AM practice: #40-Sterling Marlin was the fastest at 92.768mph, with #20-Tony Stewart 2nd at 92.686 and #5-Terry Labonte at 92.627. Slowest were #26-Joe Nemechek/Frank Kimmel at 91.095 and #71-Andy Hillenburg at 85.236. See for Speeds from Saturday's early Winston Cup practice.(4-13-2002)

Friday Practice is over: #8-Dale Earnhardt Jr was the fastest with a speed of 93.775mph, 2nd fastest was #12-Ryan Newman at 93.752 and 3rd was #41-Jimmy Spencer at 93.692. Slowest of the 44 drivers were #59-Randy Renfrow at 92.344, #30-Jeff Green at 92.303 and #71-Andy Hillenburg at 87.663. See for the Morning practice speeds at Martinsville.(4-12-2002)

Qualifying Order links are up. See above for the links. 44 cars are listed, first scheduled out is #18-Bobby Labonte, 44th and last scheduled out is #40-Sterling Marlin. #26-Frank Kimmel is due out 9th but Joe Nemechek will qualify the car for him as Kimmel will be racing in the Nashville ARCA race (unless it gets rained out).(4-12-2002)

Entry List Link is posted UPDATE 2 down to 44: See above for the link. 46 teams are listed. Included are #02-Hermie Sadler, #26 Haas Carter with no driver listed, #49-Shawna Robinson (but is not on the team's sched), #59-Randy Renfrow, #71 Marcis Racing with no driver and #89-Morgan Shepherd (been told by sources he will only run the CTS race, but that could change), so the list and count will likely change by Friday.(4-10-2002)UPDATE: Andy Hillenburg is now listed as the driver of the #71 Chevy, Frank Kimmel is listed as the driver of the #26(see story above), and #49-Shawna Robinson has been removed from the list, which takes it down to 45 teams/drvers.(4-11-2002)UPDATE 2: #89-Morgan Shepard has been dropped from the list, which takes it down to 44 teams/drivers. Buckshot Jones is still listed in the #44, looks like that rumor turned out to be untrue.(4-11-2002)

How to break a tie during qualifying?(same speed/time) When drivers are tied for a starting spot during qualifying, it is broken by owners points standings(not drivers). For provisionals standings see the Jayski's Provisional Status page

an interesting point: When NASCAR officials decided to disallow Jerry Nadeau's qualifying time at Daytona in Feb 2001, it raised an interesting question. With the Winston Cup series having only one round of qualifying the rest of the season, what happens if an unapproved part is found? According to NASCAR, drivers no longer have to post an official qualifying time to use a provisional, they only have to practice. So a driver could have a penalty on a qualifying issue but still have access to one of the seven provisionals for the race(Richmond Times Dispatch)(2-11-2001)

Links: Practice speeds, qualifying and results can be found at these
sites: NASCAR Online

TRACK/RACE NEWS

Virginia 500 Grand Marshall: Kerrie Keeler, Sales Branch Manager for the Atlanta Branch of the John Deere Company, will be the Grand Marshal for the Virginia 500 Winston Cup race at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, April 14. “I’ve been to about 10 races, but I’m not like an avid fan,” said Keeler. “But I’m really excited about coming to Martinsville and having a chance to be in the pits and see what goes on behind the scenes. I think racing is interesting. To the lay person, those drivers just make it look so easy and then when you hear the commentators talk about the complexities, it makes it really interesting.” John Deere is the official tractor of Martinsville Speedway.(Martinsville Speedway PR)(4-13-2002)

Gordon wins MW Windows Pole Award and Windows: MW Windows will be the first pole day award winners to give a house
full of doors and windows. Shortly after MW Windows announced its sponsorship of Pole Day for the Virginia 500 at Martinsville Speedway, officials with the company decided they wanted to do more than that, though. So in addition to presenting a trophy to the Virginia 500 pole winner, MW will give a house full of windows and doors in the pole-winner’s name to a local Habitat for Humanity chapter during pre-race ceremonies for the Virginia 500 on April 14. And it’s not a one-race effort either. The manufacturer of windows and door products for the residential construction industry will donate doors and windows to Habitat for Humanity chapters twice a year. One donation will come after MW Pole Day for the Virginia 500 and the other after MW Pole Day for the Old Dominion 500. The Martinsville-Henry County and Franklin County chapters of Habitat for Humanity will be the recipients each year.(Martinsville Speedway PR), Jeff Gordon won the pole and got the award.(4-13-2002)

How to Calculate Track Speeds: use the formula Speed = Distance divided by Time. Distance is Track Length, and Lap Time into Hours. Once hour is 3600 seconds, so the calculation for a 48 second lap at Daytona(2.5 miles) would be: Speed = 2.5 x (3600/48), = 2.5 x 75 = 187.500mph. For a 19 second lap at Bristol(.533 miles): Speed = .533 x (3600/19), = .533 x 189.474 = a speed of 100.990mph

DRIVER/TEAM NEWS

DW to run the #14 in Happy Hour: Even before Saturday’s CTS race, former Winston Cup champion-turned TV analyst Darrell Waltrip will get some track time in a Winston Cup car this weekend at Martinsville Speedway. A.J. Foyt Racing has received permission from NASCAR for Waltrip to run the final 45-minute Cup practice session in Foyt’s #14 Pontiac Saturday morning. The team’s regular driver, Stacy Compton, has to leave following the first 45-minute session to drive in Saturday afternoon’s BGN race at Nashville Superspeedway. Waltrip will be wired up so his broadcast teammates can speak with him during the practice session, which will be shown on FX on tape-delay at 7:00pm/et. “Since Stacy’s running the Busch race in Nashville, we needed somebody for the final 45-minute practice session in Martinsville,” said Compton’s Winston Cup crew chief, Mike Hillman. “Having someone available with a track record there like Darrell Waltrip made it an easy decision for us. We’re not going to ask him to do too terribly much, just some of the final preparations necessary for Stacy to be ready to go when he returns to Martinsville on Sunday.” Waltrip is the all-time leader at Martinsville in poles (eight) and second in wins (11) to Richard Petty (15). He is also entered in Saturday’s Truck race in an entry fielded by Melling Racing.()(4-10-2002)

Sadler and the Lottery at Martinsville: Two of Virginia's most popular pastimes will be joined together again as the Virginia Lottery will conduct its second promotional campaign with Virginia native Hermie Sadler during Virginia's NASCAR Winston Cup Series 2002 events [Martinsville and Richmond]. The program, which began last season, featured numerous at-track promotions as well as the now famous "I'm gonna tell my mama!" television commercial that promoted the "Pole Position" scratch tickets. Both Sadler and Lottery officials are excited to extend the program, which begins with the Virginia 500 this weekend at Martinsville Speedway. In addition to fielding a #02-Virginia Lottery Winston Cup Chevy in the races, the program also includes appearances by Sadler and the Virginia Lottery show car at various lottery retailers across the state as well as some of Virginia's other short tracks. Also in 2002, the Virginia Lottery will operate a booth at the track that will feature the Virginia Lottery show car, frequent appearances by Sadler during race weekends, and many other promotions, including giving fans a chance to win premium garage and pit experiences on race morning. Sadler's goal in 2002 will be to match the success of the off-track program with performance on the track, something the team started to
realize at the end of 2001. Sadler has added depth and strength to his team by adding several new crewmembers, including Bobby King. King was Sadler's crew chief during his successful start in the BGN.(The Patterson Group PR)(4-9-2002)

See the 2002 Team Chart which has links to past news for each team and info on each team.

PAINT SCHEME NEWS

M&M's Vote: Candy lovers around the globe will be faced with that decision beginning March 6th when Masterfoods USA launches its Global Color Vote(tm) - the largest promotion in the 61-year history of the "M&M's"® Brand. As consumers debate which color should be added to the famous mix in packs of the world's No. 1 candy brand, NASCAR® fans will keep some other things in mind when making their decision. Every vote cast for the new color of "M&M's" will be a vote cast for the color of Ken Schrader's #36 race car. In a one-race paint scheme at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 24, Schrader will run the winning color car - be it purple, pink or aqua. During the voting period, Schrader will pilot a special "Global Color Vote(tm)" paint scheme. At four races - Martinsville, Talladega, California and Richmond - Schrader will drive the Global Color Vote(tm) car. The car is similar to the familiar bright yellow #36, but it features the color choices of purple, pink and aqua. The characters also get in on the fun as they are depicted painting the car their color of choice. Red is dangling from a rope as he tries to paint the driver's side aqua. Blue has used his artistic skills to color the passenger side pink. And Yellow has painted himself and the back of the #36 purple. Residents around the globe will be eligible to vote by logging on to www.mms.com, which will be accessible in 10 different languages beginning on Wednesday March 6, 2002. Before casting a vote, consumers will have the opportunity to sample each color in specially marked packages available at retailers worldwide. The winning color will be announced in June 2002 at a gala event in New York City with the winning color car being driven by Schrader at the Bristol night race in August.(IMG Motorsports-Charlotte PR)(3-3-2002)